What's the deal with anenome lighting?

A

a_kraker99

New member
So I am starting a 29 gallon biocube after being out of the hobby for about 5 years and I was just reading up on what the stock biocube lighting can handle and I was surprised at what I read.
Back when i had my last tank (a small 20 gallon) I used this as lighting. LINK

I kept an anemone in there for 2 years before getting rid of everything and it did just fine. I am not sure of what species of anenome it was but it was sort of a light brown color.
Everyone on here seems so sure that a biocube, which has twice the amount of light as my old tank, cannot handle an anemone. Is everyone just going with the flow or does someone have experience with them dieing under that amount of light?
 
My lfs has a 12 gallon biocube with the stock cf lighting and the RBTA in there thrives, really thrives. I want to set one up myself.
 
The the E. Quad was really thriving in that tank, at your LFS, it would have outgrown it.


a_kraker99 -- 2 things, IMO/E that fixture wouldn't be enough light for any hosting anemone that would fit in that tank. Secondly, that company (( Custom SeaLife )) hasn't been around for about 7 years now.
 
Toddrtrex said:
The the E. Quad was really thriving in that tank, at your LFS, it would have outgrown it.


a_kraker99 -- 2 things, IMO/E that fixture wouldn't be enough light for any hosting anemone that would fit in that tank. Secondly, that company (( Custom SeaLife )) hasn't been around for about 7 years now.
Click to expand...

I do remember when they went out of business but that is definately the light we used. I attached a photo that was taken in 2005. You can see the clown fish swimming in the anemone as well as several other types of coral. The other 2 small anemones slplit from the larger one.
I realize I will probably get scolded for the yellow tang being in there. Thats history, he has a better home now but lived healthy while in this tank.
<a href="http://s197.photobucket.com/albums/aa244/tiff_andy/blog/?action=view&current=HPIM0395.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa244/tiff_andy/blog/HPIM0395.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
 
I have a huge lta in a 29 gallon biocube. I have kept it for a little over a year and it has done very well under PC lighting. Had only two pc's for the first 8 months then upgraded to three pc's. The lta is fully colored, fat and has stayed in the same spot the entire time. I weekly feed the lta peeled shrimp which it gladly accepts. My clowns love the lta. I see lots of people say u can't keep an anemone in a biocube but I have done it and am happy with the outcome
 
S_E6A1.jpg
 
PiePuncher said:
I have a huge lta in a 29 gallon biocube. I have kept it for a little over a year and it has done very well under PC lighting. Had only two pc's for the first 8 months then upgraded to three pc's. The lta is fully colored, fat and has stayed in the same spot the entire time. I weekly feed the lta peeled shrimp which it gladly accepts. My clowns love the lta. I see lots of people say u can't keep an anemone in a biocube but I have done it and am happy with the outcome
Click to expand...

IME, if both an LTA and BTA didn't outgrow a 29 biocube in over a year, something was/is off.
 
The lta is more than a foot in diameter and is the center piece of the tank and has a few pieces of Tonga around it. I will post photos when I can but nem is in excellent health and host two clowns. U can try and deny it but the specimen is in great shape and i will post a photo for u tomorrow. Amazing that u can't accept the fact, hopefully the picture will open your closed mind.... Having a large nem, keeps you from being able to gave lots of live rock and corals but it can b done successfully. I have four pieces of Tonga in tank with the lta.
 
Wow, "U" (( can't type out the whole word or "b" be? )), really need to relax a bit.

If you think keeping an LTA (( M. doreensis )) in a 29 for a year shows that it can be done successfully...
 
The biocube is roughly 20" long and lta's get around 18". The nem's do not stay perfectly round and actually fold up a bit to get snug against rock and bottom of tank. As stated, you can not add all kinds of corals with the lta but if u want one, it can be done. The lta burries itself in the dsb leaving only mouth and tentacles above sand, only taking up the bottom of the tank. Look forward to showing u a healthy huge lta in a 29 gallon biocube
 
I know post count isnt everything, but it never ceases to amaze me how many people with a low post count argue with people with 10,00+ helpful posts.

Keeping anemone's with pc lights and keeping mandrian dragonetts or tangs in small tanks seem to draw the majority of these arguments.

Im just sayin...
 
thanks a_kraker99 for asking the question. My mom who lives in another state went out and picked up a BTA for her 29 Bio Cube that she recently set up. I was concerned if the stock lighting would be enough for the BTA. But it sounds like from the thread that it wouldn't be.
 
Post count doesn't matter, just shows I have had things to do other than spend days posting on a forum. I said I would post and here u go. I never said the anemone doesn't take up most of my tank but he is happy. I have had the anemone since last February, about one and a half years. I can't keep many corals but have Kenya tree, 20+ head frogspawn, zoas, paly's and shrooms. Anemone has moved three to four times in last 18 months. He usually just moves from one rock to another. Not trying to b rude but everyone is always negative about anemones in a cube w pc's. It can be done and while not recommended for a new tank, an anemone can b happy in a large cube.tank has about three inches of clearance all the way around as anemone stays in center and tank was built around him.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v...hoto_FC4C7BD9-249A-050C-1307-D23F76B32CD9.jpg
 
a_kraker99 said:
I do remember when they went out of business but that is definately the light we used. I attached a photo that was taken in 2005. You can see the clown fish swimming in the anemone as well as several other types of coral. The other 2 small anemones slplit from the larger one.
Click to expand...

Kraker, the lighting you had in this old tank was barely adequate for what you were keeping. I don't need to know what the lighting was - your critters tell me so. Instead of being dark colored and translucent, they are light-colored and semi-transparent. Those that can move did so - and are up high on the rocks (a sign that they are yearning for light). I'm not trying to make you feel bad, I just want you to be successful. I give you credit for keeping them alive - but with the right lighting they would thrive instead of just survive.

PC lighting would be an improvement from this tank, but have you considered a dramatic upgrade to LED's? In my opinion your lighting is the single most important piece of equipment for your tank; why short-change it when the different might change your entire aquarium experience?

FWIW, the two smaller anemones in this photo are NOT offspring of the rose BTA. They are majano anemones - a different species - and some consider them pest anemones.
 
i have a pair of Juvi Latz in a 12g jbj nano with stock pc lighting. they host in 2 gbta's. the nem was 1 and split into 3 and now there is only 2 in the tank cause i removed one. i dont feed my nems at all and so they dont grow as fast and now they are over 5" each and the been in that tank for a year and a half.

granted the only thing in the tank is the nems the clowns and a few critters.. i think a rose bta needs more lighting, but a green bta doesnt need alot and i think PC's are fine as long as the tank your using is spanking new when you add the nems. give it 4 to 6 months before adding any nems.
 
walkerbrody said:
Pie, your leather does look pretty light, and it is reaching quite a bit. Not my business, Just sayin...
Click to expand...

It IS very light, very stretched out. The M. doreensis is also partially bleached.

However his point is valid - he IS keeping it alive and it is quite large. I didn't want to get in an argument with him about it but I wouldn't use that pic as an example of the perfect environment. If you would have shown me that pic, separate from this entire conversation, and asked me what I would have thought, I would have said "not enough light" based on the way the critters look.
 
Whip316 said:
think a rose bta needs more lighting, but a green bta doesnt need alot and i think PC's are fine as long as the tank your using is spanking new when you add the nems.
Click to expand...

Whip, I am glad your anemones are doing well, however there are a couple of things you are mentioning here that probably need some correction:

(1) BTA's of ANY color need the same amount of light. That's because it is the zooxanthellae (dinoflagellates) in the tissue of the anemone that need the light, and populations of zooxanthellae do not differ greatly between BTAs in terms of their lighting needs. The color of the anemone is determined by pigmentation (not zooxanthellae) - which in some anemones serves to help block excessive light (particularly UVA and UVB). You may be suggesting that to get an anemone to be vibrantly colored you need bright lighting - which is true.

(2) BTA's require the least light of any clown anemone.

(3) As you yourself mention, new bulbs (and changing bulbs) is critically important. A new bulb can deliver 2x the light output of a 2 year-old bulb (depending on make and type of bulb). You should replace bulbs at least every 6 months.

(4) I think you confused people by saying add the anemone when the tank is sparkling new, but only add it after the tank is 4-6 months old :) I think I understand what you were trying to say - ie only add anemones after 4-6 months, but keep new light bulbs (?)

I have seen BTA's kept successfully under NO actinic lighting with a few NO daylight fluorescents. Granted, they were hugging the waterline, but the anemones did get quite large, and split regularly. I don't doubt they can be kept in a nano as long as you don't feed them much and keep them really small :)
 
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